In Genesis 23, Abraham holds Sarah after she dies, and then buys a burial plot from Ephron.
Ephron’s name is rooted in “dust and ash,” and also “calf.”
“My lord, listen to me: a plot of land worth four hundred shekels of silver — what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”
Genesis 23:15 (NASB)
Ephron charged Abraham 400 shekels of silver (~12.5lbs) after offering the land and the cave to bury his wife Sarah for free.
The rabbinical understanding is that 400 shekels isn’t an arbitrary price. It’s stated as an objective value of the land, suggesting this is what Ephron paid for it. The price is set.
There is sharp contrast shown here between Abraham, who offered “a morsel of bread and water” (Gen 18:4-5) to his guests and then prepared a massive feast for them, and Ephron who offered the land for free, and then charged the full exact price for it.
Perhaps this is a picture.
Abraham is shown to us like the promise of Life, where blessings overflow. It offers more than you ever dreamed, and brings joy and laughter.
But Death is a liar. It tells you that there is no cost, and then it demands an exact price: the high cost of Life itself. It whispers, “you will not surely die,” when it knows full well that you will.
But hope is found here: a price was paid by Abraham, and the Cave of Hebron becomes a sacred place for the Patriarchs, even to this day.
When Abraham insists on paying the case, we are shown the symbol of Life pahing the price for Death, like a ransom, to preserve the one he loved.
***
I have a hunch is that this is what C.S. Lewis was talking about when Aslan says “Do not cite the Deep Magic to me, Witch. I was there when it was written,” to the Queen.
Death is the curse established in Genesis 2 and 3. There is a price that must be paid. The cost is not zero.
According to Strong’s Concordance, it means “fawn-like,” but if you keep digging into the word root, you end up with an entirely different meaning that ends up being a much clearer theological message.
When Sarah dies, Abraham buys a plot of land to bury her. There’s this whole dialog in the chapter about this, and we learn that the owner of the land Abraham wishes to buy is Ephron.
Because Genesis is a series of lessons and themes, “fawn-like” seems a bit out of context.
You’d think Ephron’s name would be linked to death, or burial. Or maybe a transaction. We already know that “Heth” means terror, so there should be a link.
As it turns out, Ephron’s name (עֶפְרוֹן) is rooted in the Hebrew word aphar (עָפָר). This is the answer.
The Hebrew reader of Genesis 23 should see this clearly. This is dust.
It’s the same dust God used to make man in Genesis 2:7. The same dust to which man is doomed to return in Genesis 3:19.
But also the same dust of the promise in Genesis 13:16.
I will make your descendants as plentiful as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can count the dust of the earth, then your descendants could also be counted.
Genesis 13:16 (NASB)
So this conversation between Abraham and Ephron isn’t just a transaction over a plot of land or a cave to bury his wife.
Perhaps it’s meant to be seen as a negotiation with death, and a price that’s paid to claim a sacred spot within the dust.